Figma and Adobe Abandon Acquisition Proposal ⇥ figma.com

Figma CEO Dylan Field:

Figma and Adobe have reached a joint decision to end our pending acquisition. It’s not the outcome we had hoped for, but despite thousands of hours spent with regulators around the world detailing differences between our businesses, our products, and the markets we serve, we no longer see a path toward regulatory approval of the deal.

It is not worth being too upset for Figma. Adobe’s press release confirms it will be paying Figma the termination fee of one billion dollars.

It seems unwise to treat this as a case of a smaller company not being allowed to grow up because of big government regulators. Adobe was clearly trying to buy its first major competitor since Macromedia — which it also acquired. Technology companies, even very big ones like Adobe, will certainly be allowed to merge and acquire, but it is right for competition authorities to ask questions about what impact it will have for individuals. It is hard to see how Figma would be more beneficial as a subsidiary instead of a competitor.